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Talk:Bohemia
The Bohemians have the power of Prestige. Suggestions and spoilers *Strengths: Strong artillery and siege capabilities, a very strong unique siege unit that can potentially upset the game. Cheaper and better officers make Bohemia useful in conventional battles. *Weaknesses: High reliance on defensive strategy, no Nobles' Court units means that offensives can be troublesome. In Rise of Nations, the primary way to win the game is to capture cities, and this is where the Bohemians shine. Bohemia does well in all ages, having a slew of units that create an offensive civ that can employ a variety of different strategies. Civs with good offensive units in the beginning can suffer from the fact that those units generally aren't as effective in capturing cities, which is what you need to do in order to win, rather then just give them a bloody nose and give you an advantage. Particularly interesting is Bohemia's faster city assimilation ability. This will make the capture of cities and moving on to the next target much easier. Using siege machines, you will pummel a city into submission faster, and then have the same hang back further so that defenders will have a harder time destroying them. The faster assimilation rate will also make the defenders' job very tough in sending reinforcements in time to prevent a city's capture. In the reverse, Bohemia will also be just as good in recapturing cities lost to the enemy, making the overall tendency much more likely that Bohemia will be doing much of the conquering, once it gets its edge into the game. Although Bohemia has some units that it shares with other European factions, there are three units which make up the main draw to play Bohemia: the War Wagon, its upgrade the Tabór, and the Howitzer (which is shared with the HRE and Burgundy). The War Wagon is in fact a Springald hardened to the point that it can be used a a "tank" unit capable of soaking up damage from non-siege units, its successor the Tabór being more effective and just as terrifying. Once the Imperial Era is achieved and proper technologies have been researched, Trebuchets can be converted into Howitzers. Howitzers are generally a faster-training version of the Trebuchet - they lose the flexibility of the Trebuchet as they have a very high minimum range, but they make up for this with massive splash damage and the high speed of training associated with gunpowder weapons. However, as good as Bohemia is at assimilating cities, its army leaves a great deal to be desired. The first is that unlike other factions, Bohemia doesn't construct ballistae, so Bohemia has a marked lack of anti-infantry support in the Dark Age, until at least War Wagons, Tabors and Howitzers can be brought into play. Bohemia's woes are further compounded by the fact that due to religious dissent, chivalric orders are not available from the Nobles' Court, thus Bohemia is at somewhat of a disadvantage as it armies do not receive offensive boosts, but this is somewhat ameliorated by the fact that Bohemian officers are trained faster and cheaper. A variety of strategies can be used by Bohemia. The first is the Dark Age infantry rush, which involves the use of Feudal Retinue, which later can be upgraded to Fauchards and Halberdiers, albeit it should not be relied on to fend off swordsmen or archers — that is the role of the war wagon. In the mid- to late-game, Bohemia can then rely on defensive units such as Tabors and Howitzers to hold the enemy at bay and protect infantry and towns. Tabors can also be arranged in strings to screen an army on siege as well. If all else fails, Bohemia can fall back on armed merchants, tradesmen and supply wagons to act as a form of deterrence. CtW guide Perhaps, Bohemia can be said to be one of the hardest campaign factions to play. There is very little room for you to expand: Burgundy and the Empire rule the west, while to the north lurk the Norse, while your east is covered by Poland, and Hungary and Venice threaten from the south. To make matters worse, it is not likely that you will be protected by excommunication, much less be protected from it yourself, so the best thing you could do would be to forge an alliance. The best option here might be diplomacy; indeed you will find it hard to expand from your prison without exposing yourself to potential attack until either the Castle Age or the abolition of the Papal States is achieved. Perhaps some form of proof of your fealty to the Church and the Empire, which are increasingly wary of your ambitions, will be of use. One bright spot you can expect however is that Central Europe is rich with mineral wealth. Controlling the silver mines of Moravia and perhaps an expansion to the German coast might be an important strategy, although it is to be noted that Bohemia's strengths are all but military. Seizing Silesia, Moravia, and the Pomeranian coast would thus be of vital importance as their resources will be able to fuel your expansion vis-à-vis other nations on your borders, while Pomerania is vital for its access to the Baltic Coast. To the south of your position, you are confronted by two potentates: Hungary and Venice. Venice tends to be cut off from the rest of Europe by the Alps, but Hungary could prove to be a potential problem. To forestall any problems, either ally with these powers or seize Austria as fast as you can. Austria is a good source of troops and also guards the route leading from your realm into the Adriatic. Although they are very close to your position, fighting them would be much unwise, given that you are facing three different powers to the north: the Germans, Burgundians, and Norse. So the campaign for Bohemia will involve a great deal of diplomacy, given the central location of Bohemia at the heart of Europe, and the fact that the Pope is unwilling to protect Bohemia. The seizure of strategic locations rich with resources is also a must for Bohemia, given the poor quality of Bohemia's own cultural bonuses. CtW objectives *Conquer the entire map or acquire ten colonies. *Capture Jerusalem to gain the support of other Catholic nations *Build an Abbey to convince the Church not to excommunicate your people (if any faction destroys Bohemia and Bohemia controls the Abbey, that faction will be excommunicated as long as the Papal States are in play). Faction summary *Highly offensive faction, whose highlights are better siege and gunpowder units and cheap villagers. *City Space — Cheap villagers make good militiamen and builders. Play this civ in the preliminary rounds as you would China, by creating lots of farms...and then lots of villagers to take over those farms. *Siege Tank — The Bohemian unique siege units, the War Wagon and the Tabór, are in fact more hardened versions of the springald, the Tabór in fact having a devastating musketoon-based attack. Not only can they fire without deployment, but they also have the highest HP score for mainstream land units, making them powerful field weapons. Gotta be careful around gunpowder and trebuchets, as well as crusader units, though. *The Invisible Hand — Build your own merchants and caravans to improve trade while taking apart your opponents' own to dirsupt trade and line your pockets with your cavalry archers. Accompany them with a duke patriot unit to protect them from attrition and gather resources from whatever units you destroy. *Box Office Special — Officers are created cheaper and faster, so you can be assured that your armies will never have a lack of leadership, allowing them to perform to the best of their abilities. Settlements: ; Leaders: '''Ottokar, Jan Zizka, Peter Boemus, Premysl the Ploughman, Vaclav, Boleslav, Prokop the Great, Jaromir, Oldrich, Bretislav, John the Blind '''Best age(s): Dark and Imperial. History The fertile Bohemian lands had been settled for centuries when, by 995, the Premyslid chiefs united the Czech tribes into the principality of Bohemia. Part of the Holy Roman empire since Emperor Otto the Great paid them a visit in 950, the prince of Bohemia was one of the seven electors and thus held considerable power, which he used effectively to increase his dominions, particularly Moravia in the 11th century. Nevertheless, the princes regularly had difficulty with local nobility, and, relying on German support to quell the unrests, they undermined their own position. The emperors expanded their influence by making the see of Prague subordinated to the archbishop of Mainz. The Premyslids The 13th century saw the emperors tied up in Italy, and the Polish and Hungarians caught up fighting the Golden Horde. Premysl Otakar I used this time of unrest to secure his own position as a king. The Emperor confirmed the position in 1212, and allowed the Bohemian kings to appoint their own bishops in Prague. Premysl Otakar II had an even more forceful imperial policy: he became duke of Austria, and conquered Styria, most of Carinthia, and parts of Carniola. The king of the Romans, Richard of Cornwall, had accepted this, but when Rudolf of Habsburg acquired that royal dignity, he confiscated Premysl Otakar's German lands. A war was fought, in which both sides claimed the imperial crown, but in the battle of the Marchfeld (1278), the Bohemian died and the Habsburg family, formerly unknown counts of Alsace, paved the way to eternal fame. When the Premyslid family ended in the male line, a war was fought in which Jan, duke of Luxembourg, was the victor. His reign gave rise to what is considered the Golden Age of Bohemia, perfected in the reign of Karel IV (1342-1378), who also became emperor (1355). Karel IV did many things to benefit Bohemia and strengthen his rule, raising the status of the See of Bohemia to a bishopric, and cancelling Bohemia's position as a fief of the Holy Roman empire. This gave rise to a fertile artistic and scientific circuit, and Prague became one of the foremost centres of culture and learning in Europe. The Hussite Wars In the 15th century the Hussite movement took root in Bohemia. Jan Hus, rector of the Prague University, espoused the antipapal and antihierarchical teachings of John Wycliffe of England, but added Bohemian nationalism into the mix. He was executed for spreading heretical ideas, but had gained so many supporters that Bohemia erupted into a revolt. Multiple crusades went to Bohemia, but all were defeated, while the Hussites went on "Beautiful Rides" that were in reality merciless raids through Poland, Hungary and the empire. The brutality of the "Beautiful Rides" even prompted Joan of Arc (who was then fighting another war in France) to write a letter in 1430, threatening them and stating: "I might leave behind the English and go against you." The different wings of the Hussite movement fought out a civil war, ending in victory for the moderate movement, but which in reality weakened the country, and by 1437 the war was over. In 1458 the Bohemian estates elected George of Podebrady as King of Bohemia, an election both the pope and the Catholic nobles in the land refused to recognise, given his support for the Reformed Church and antagonistic treatment of Catholics. The Catholic nobility founded the League of Zelena Hora to challenge George's rule until his death in 1471, when the Bohemian estates elected a Polish prince, Wladyslaw II Jagiello, as king. Vladislav also became king of Hungary, and the Polish Jagellonian line ruled both Bohemia and Hungary. Decline of Independence and Habsburg Rule The Jagellonians governed Bohemia as absentee monarchs; their influence in the kingdom was minimal, and effective government fell to the regional nobility. In 1526, when Hungary was partly conquered by the Turks, and the rest fell to the Austrians, the Bohemian estates elected Archduke Ferdinand of Austria to become their new king, initiating almost four centuries of Habsburg rule for Bohemia. pt:Boêmia References *Age of Chivalry: Hegemony Wiki; Bohemia — A History